Danish amateur boxing under threat of extinction

Foreign boxers no longer want to measure their skills against Danes at local competitions because it is too expensive for them

September 26th, 2014 5:40 pm| by admin

The future of Danish amateur boxing is under serious threat, worries the Danish amateur boxing union, the DABU.

For several months, the union has not been able to arrange any international competitions in Denmark.

Due to the Ministry of Justice's strict requirements for MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans, the participation of foreign boxers in Danish competitions has become very complicated.

Without foreigners Danish boxing will dieFor instance, the prestigious Hillerød Box Cup, which has existed for 29 years, will take place in two weeks without any foreign elite boxer taking part.

Karl Christian Koch, the chief executive of the Danish Sports Confederation (DIF), believes that without the presence of foreign elite fighters, the development of Danish senior men's elite boxing will stagnate.

"Danish amateur boxing will slowly die if we don't find a solution," he told DR Sport.

Foreigners can't afford to fight hereThe international boxing association AIBA now requires boxers to fight without helmets in all competitions.

That concerns both the Ministry of Justice and the Board of Health, who now require foreign boxers to provide medical documentation – including the results of MRI scans – in order to compete on Danish soil. This makes it too expensive for them to bother.